You Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down!

Just a quick post to let everyone know who’s been following Lucy’s emergency that she is A-OK this morning. That’s after two rounds of injected rehydration, medication to bring her fever down, antibiotics, an ice bath and a trip to the emergency 24-hour pet clinic.

Her temp is down to 99.2, which is normal for dogs — they run hotter than we do. She’s had a hearty breakfast, given Oscar a quick smack-down and is now playing in Lake Charles.

Just a few things we’ve learned from this adventure that are worth passing along:

Apparently it’s quite common for dogs to get urinary tract infections. And getting them to drink juice every day is a known preventative. Who knew? My dog could have had a V-8.

The InterWebs will tell you that all your dog’s organs will fail at fevers of over 104 F. Don’t believe them! The vet said, while fevers are to be watched and brought to your vet’s attention, real danger doesn’t occur until about 107 degrees. (A dog’s normal temperature is anywhere from 99 to 102F.)

Facebook may not have had anything to do with the uprising in Egypt, but live blogging your pet’s emergency is a good way to keep a husband who is on a business trip in another hemisphere in the loop.

It’s probably worth it to get Lucy a Facebook page and a Twitter account. She seems to have more CyberFriends than I do.

And finally, never underestimate the power of Terrier-Tude!

And Oscar sez: "We also serve who just hang around and have NO FUN AT ALL because no one was playing!"

About The Author

Although I'd like to think of myself as a rootin', tootin', wine-makin' cowgirl, I currently only live in Sonoma part-time. Mostly I'm on freeways between San Jose and Sonoma. With two yapping terriers in crates behind me. We try to enjoy both places and points in between. Which will explain why my post subjects are all over the map.

So glad she’s better. I’m sure it was worth a smack to Oscar just to have his world back to normal! When Lucy gets on FB, she can friend Britta, who has her own page. Nutmeg appears to be too fast for the Internet.

Yay! Any particular flavor of juice? I had never heard of ITI’s in dogs.. not even when working for veterinarians in 2 of my “former lives”. Phoebe would probably love a glass of juice in the mornings. She wants to know which are ok for doggies.

The article I read was talking about orange juice, but I think any acidic juice would do. The point is to raise the acidity of your dog’s urine to where it can kill bacteria. I’m going to try cranberry.

I know grapes are toxic to dogs, so that would be a caveat. So you might want to check ingredients as some cranberry and other juices are supplemented with grape juice.

Christine
on February 7, 2011 at 5:11 PM

So happy to hear that Lucy is on the mend. I was going to suggest that she and Lex chill on the couch and recouperate together for a few days!

I’m late finding out about poor Lucy but happy to hear she is on the mend. I bet it was quite a scare. What’s up with dogs and all their cyber friends. I have a friend who is always posting on FB about her dogs and it does draw a lot of attention. I need to get a furry friend who drinks juice 😀

Sara Beth Dawson
on February 10, 2011 at 3:00 AM

My Sweet Tea suffered two urinary tract infections several months apart. I had read about the possible helpful effects of cranberry juice in raising the acidity level in the bladder to help kill bacteria/infection. When I asked my vet, she recommended a supplement–“UT Strength Stat” manufactured by Vetri-Science Labs. Sweet Tea takes one pill each morning and has had no more urinary tract infections.

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